MURRAY WALKER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

ITV’S Murray Walker, the voice of Formula One, has announced that he will retire from commentating at the end of the 2001 season.
Murray, 77, who has been commentating for the last 51 years on the sport, said he had made the decision now in order for him to hang up his microphone while he is at the top of his profession.
Murray said: “I am already immensely looking forward to the start of the new season, which will obviously be gigantically emotional and important for me. It will give me the opportunity to thank all the people within the Formula One world who have supported me all these years.”
In 1949, Murray began broadcasting part-time on motorsport with his father for the BBC, and continued after his father’s death in 1962. It wasn’t until the age of 62 that he became a full-time broadcaster.
When ITV bought the rights to Formula One and began showing Grands Prix in 1997, Murray joined forces with ex-driver Martin Brundle to make a forceful sporting commentary duo.
(CD)